Gate or door latch



April 24, 1956 w. E. WOLFE 2,743,124

GATE 0R DOOR LATCH Filed Aug. 19, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l M IE 1 131.. M

l r f E 1 E E INVENTOR. Wzzzzsztzz o'z "e April 24, 1956 w. E. WOLFE .GATE OR DOOR LATCH Filed Aug. 19, 1952 2 Sheets-Shget 2 7 n 7 W 2 2 E M E \v A 6 M J M 2 H 2 m M 1 nu 1 m .M 6 m 2 WW T 2 E 2 42 1 32a. 2 23 1 a /7 m a a g x nu 4 v 3% 3 JV 6 2 m United States Patent O GATE OR DOOR LATCH Willis E. Wolfe, Anderson, Ind. Application August 19, 1952, Serial No. 305,198

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-27) This invention relates to improvements in gate or door latches and particularly to those especially adapted for farm use., 4 I

It is an object of the present invention to provide a latch which may be easily mounted on any type of gate or door without modification of the latch structure.

It is anoflier object of the invention'to provide a latch wherein easily accessible adjusting parts permit the latch portion to be placed on round or square or irregular posts or jambs. I

Still another object of the invention is to provide a latchwhereinthe keeper has a wide range of adjustments so that the keeper may be easily attached to slatted gates of irregular construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door or gate latch which will hold securely when the door, gate or latch structure is severely jostled by livestock and particularly by the horns of cattle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch in which the operating parts, springs and the like are shielded from livestock damage.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a latch in which the latch arms are opened by a double action cam pin, and which pin may be adjusted to equal ize jaw opening when parts become worn.

A final object of the invention is to provide a latch wherein the latch arms may be secured by pushing the door or gate into closed position but wherein a knob must be turned to open the same.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be presently apparent, the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly claimed.

In the accompanying drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the improved latch structure as applied to a farm gate and showing fragmentary portions of the gate post and gate;

Figure 2 is a top view of the latch as applied to a farm gate and also showing fragmentary portions of the gate post and gate;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a side view of the cam pin which operates the latch arm; and

Figure 6 is a top view of the cam pin.

In the drawings the latch is particularly shown as adapted to a gate, but the device may be equally well applied to a door of any type. The latch keeper is identified by the reference numeral 10. The keeper preferably includes an elongated strap member 11 which is secured as shown to the gate G. latch keeper 10 may be adjustably positioned on the gate there are positioned at eitherend of the strap member 11 the cross straps 12. These cross straps are placed In order that the in pairs, as shown'in Figure 2, and bolts 13 pass through the ends of the cross straps and through the gate G, the strap member 11 thus being clamped between the cross straps and thegate as shown. When the bolts 13 are.

loosened the latch keeper may be freely moved vertically to achieve the fine adjustment needed for proper cooperation with the latch jaws. This arrangement also per-- mits the latch keeper to span the distance between the spaced cross rails of the gate G without intermediate support, and permits instant adaption no matter what the distance may be between rails. Fixedly secured to the strap member 11 is the latch strap 14 which is bent outwardly as at 15 and then parallel to the gate as atlfi. This provides a jaw engaging portion which will give clearance for the latch jaws and also provide for a-fairly wide range of lateral adjustment for the latch itself since the .jaws may engage anywhere along the portion 16 which is parallel to the gate. It will be seen that the arrangement shown and described gives a considerable range of horizontal and vertical adjustment permitting application to a wide variety of doors or gates.

The latch arms are mounted on a base plate 17 which is attached to any fixed post or jamb J. The plate issecured by large wood screws 18 which are placed inter-- mediate the side edges and threaded into the jamb or post. .Oneither side of the large screws 18 are theset screwsi which are threadedly engaged in suitable apertures in said plate. By means of these set screws and their threaded relation to the plate, the plate may be spaced a desired distance from the jamb, or the plate may be tilted in any direction necessary to properly align the latch arms with the keeper. It will be further noted that the plate 17 may be placed on any round, oval or irregular surface with individual adjustment of the set screws serving to level the plate and align the latch arms with the keeper.

Secured to the plate 17 is a U-shaped guard 20, the legs of the guard being fixedly attached to the plate by any suitable means. Journalled in the guard and the plate is a knob shaft 21 to which is attached a standard door knob 22. A cotter pin 23 holds the shaft in oper ating position. Directed outwardly from the guard 20 is an auxiliary plate 28 which serves to protect the latch In the shaft 21 adjacent the outer face of the baseplate 17 is formed a threaded aperture 24. In this aperture is placed by turning it into position the cam pin 25, which is shown in detail in Figures 5 and 6. This pin is threaded throughout its length and is rounded at either end and has a uniform double taper as at 26 and 27 respectively.

Pivotally connected to the base plate 17 by bolts 29 or the like are a pair of latch arms 31 and 31. These arms extend through the guard 20 and project outwardly to engage the keeper 10. Each latch arm has intermediate its ends and projecting outwardly a pin 32. Between the two pins 32 are stretched one or more coil springs 33, and these springs serve to bias the latch arms together into closed position. Cotter pins 34 permit the springs to he slipped 01f ofthe free ends of the pins 32 for replacement. The latch arm 39 is provided with an obtuse-angled notch 35 which cooperates with a similar notch 36 on the latch arm 31 to provide clearance for the knob shaft 21 and the cam pin 25, as most clearly shown in Figure 3. The ends of the latch arms are tapered inwardly as at 37 and 38 respectively, and this permits the latch arms to be carnmed outwardly automatically and admit the keeper 1b to a pair of notches 39 and 40 formed in the latch arms 36 and 31 respec tively when the gate is moved to closed position. The slot formed by the two aligned notches holds the gate securely against pressure or shaking in' any direction by livestock.

When it is desired to open the latch, the knob must be turned. The ends 26 and 27 of the cam pin 25 will then press against the notches 35 and 36 respectively and open the latch arms to the dotted line position shown in Figure 3. When 'the' notches 39 ,and 40 clear the keeper the springs 33 will then bring the latch arms together, and a simple closing of the gate will re-engage the notches with the keeper 10.

It will be observed that the threaded cam pin 25 may be moved to correct position, may be easily replaced and may be easily moved longitudinally to compensate for uneven wear.

It will be noted that by means of the novel construction shown herein that the latch plate and keeper may be simply adjusted within a wide range, thus presenting a degree of adaptability not previously known in the art.

While there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to, be understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

Latch means for a closure having a vertical jamb, said latch means including a vertically elongated rectangular base plate, screws extending through said plate adjacent its upper and lower edges and adaptedto engage in the jamb for supporting said plate, adjusting screws arranged in pairs laterally spaced from the first screws, a pair of latch arms each having an end pivoted to said plate in spaced relation to onevertical edge of theplate, said arms having free ends projecting from the opposite edge portion of theplate, said arms normally extending in parallelism and contacting at their adjacent edges, a yoke member having a body extending across said arms and having ends extending perpendicularly from said plate and fixedly secured thereto, said yoke ends constituting stops limiting swinging pivotal movement of said arms away from each other, the free ends of said arms being bevelled from their remote edges inwardly to the line of contact, opposed notches formed in the proximal edges of said arms in spaced relation to the bevelled ends, spring means urging the free ends of said arms towards each other, a knob having a shaft journalled in said yoke and extending between said arms, a camming member carried by said shaft and positioned between said arms, said bevelled ends of the arms being adapted for engagement by a keeper carried by a swinging closure member and said notches being adapted to receive said keeper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 86,217 Davis Ian. 26, 1869 633,918 Smith Sept. 26, 1899 786,961 Drakes Apr. 11, 1905 841,910 West Jan. 22, 1907 1,059,530 Dupuis Apr. 22, 1913 1,252,776 Camper Ian. 8, 1918 2,430,826 Rodmanet al. ---Nov. 11, 1947 

